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Gugu Ndima Correspondent
The final push of campaigning for local government elections is probably the most effervescent as we watch a collage of PR campaigns play out in a scramble for votes. This is the hour that distinguishes the men from the boys, the tried and tested from political infants, the salesman from the committed. The political landscape in South Africa has evolved. Not only does the current state of our dispensation demonstrate a democracy receptive of political evolution, tolerance and diversity, but also a plethora of options and ideologies for the voter.
Democratic development in South Africa is equally augmented by the voters’ maturity. South Africans have become active beyond just passive voting. Communities are more familiar with their responsibility to participate in the development and sustainability of democracy.
What are largely perceived as problems, as we head towards any election, are in fact the consequences of a society more aware of the political landscape and how to engage it. The ANC, as the party in government, has had the mammoth task of not only forging the unity of a fragile and antagonistic society to build a nation but also building institutions that recognise the equality of every South African. Thus far it has proven its abilities despite having its own challenges.
The institutions that are the pillars of our hard-earned democracy prove the ANC continues to lead through a legitimate social contract with the people. One can’t ignore the ramifications of its shortcomings, yet it continues to swim with the tide. The question is how and why. The ANC has laid bare its challenges in the public arena.
We have yet to see a nation with the same history, the same narrative and similar political traits that has managed to build a non-racist, non-sexist and democratic society. For the ANC, local government elections are not about a PR demonstration of strength, but the continued organic existence of an organisation rooted deep in the ideals and aspirations of the people it serves.
Faced with sharp contradictions and possible antagonism, the ANC communicates with the people. The party has always understood that the people’s struggle is older than its existence and therefore its umbilical cord is linked forever to the aspirations of the people.
It doesn’t rely on parading former leaders or its history, as the pages of its history are in every South African house and heart one way or another. The ANC resonates with the people, and its leaders were born and raised in the communities of South Africa.
To many, the ANC remains a tourniquet in times of economic uncertainty and harsh conditions because so far it has delivered on its social contract. What earns trust for any organisation is consistency in principles and perennial engagement with communities.
Local government has been the most challenging sphere, because that is the arena where there is the most direct contact with South Africans. Statistics can help show how far government has come, but evidence of a functional government is illustrated in the day-to-day realities of our people:
The worker who now has cut his/her transport costs because of an efficient public transport system; the African child with a chance to compete in the world as his dreams are no longer determined by his pigmentation; the grandmother who can now get to a clinic without travelling miles; the early childhood centres now recognised by the government that afford mainly young women to run them professionally and get an income; the dignity that comes with unlocking a house you can call home.
It is the ANC that protects the dream of a young person to lead the AU some day; it is the ANC that applauds a young black man for winning a BET award; it is the ANC that claps the loudest for graduates who previously wouldn’t have seen the lawns, let alone the lecture halls, of a university due to lack of funding.
It is the ANC that can claim to have changed apartheid-era parties that now have black men and women leading them. It is the ANC that can stand in the background and proudly watch a new generation of pioneers once relegated to apartheid slums boldly take decisions in boardrooms.
The tragic mistake we make at times is to assume the government alone will change realities. Our government has invested immensely in infrastructure to create a conducive environment for business and the economy to flourish, but everyone needs to play their part.
The government continues to engage with the private sector to strengthen and enhance local economies. Our picture as a nation is not the best, but it has changed from the bleak divides of black and white to a colourful nation striving towards a better and prosperous society.
We have all had our fair share of criticism about the ANC’s organisational challenges, but the party is an organic structure that lives through South Africans. The heart of the ANC beats in sync with the hearts of our people. Its societal mould is reflected in every tear and smile of South Africans.
The challenges of the ANC are the challenges of the people, the pain of the people is the pain of the ANC, the joys and successes of the ANC are those of South Africans. Until there is a total change in the lives of our people, until we have built a solid Rainbow Nation, the ANC needs to lead. Some decisions have been unpopular, yet they have never been detrimental to South Africans.
The process of correction, healing and leading is not an easy one, therefore it requires a steadfast organisation that can be humble in the face of antagonism, rise despite pessimism and, more importantly, lead in an environment of trepidation.
The current political landscape is evidence that the ANC has heeded the call to lead. — iol.co.za
Online Reporter